and its awesome. More from The-Drum is nothing to complain about, I think these guys are currently flying perfectly under the radar and are crafting a sound familiar to so many but purely their own. Check out the first single from The-Drum’s debut LP Contact below; titled “Sirens”.

Make sure to find you way to snag their stellar EP Sense Net; its free and awesome.

One half of the brothers Thornton, Pusha T, links up with Nardwuar out at this year’s SXSW 2013; I was hoping from more on this, though Nardwuar does hit on some nice gems. check it out below.

Two artists I’m fans of but consistently make it difficult for me to continue to like them because of my perception of their personal choices, so I guess its fitting both drop new videos today that are both in contrast to each other and to who I think they are as people.

Is Azealia a good person with bad days (a lot of them) of a good person with bad days (on display by her own hands)?

Regardless when you’re in Miami & ULTRA its a good day. She and the beat are fire.

Is Drake hard or has he just picked up the persona of his ‘dread nigga from the south’? Rap is music, music is art, art displays emotion; Drake was feeling a certain way when he penned this.

Cuz ya know lotion is still lotion. Anyway though he delivers on this track.

“From The Inbox” is the submissions portion of Social8gency, whether you sent it via email / Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr – we try to listen to everything. Keep Creatin’!

I’m way behind on the submissions, deal with it and forgive me for not bringing HAWDWERK to you sooner. He dropped his The Graveyard Shift album late February and I believe its worth your $3 to support a young man with talent and ability. The standout tracks to look out for are “Mastermind” & “Why Can’t We Smile ft. Chevy Jones”, both tracks present fully realized songs; the former about growth and expansion the latter about relationships and taking a look at who we are. Not laying this lofty of praise on the man, but I haven’t felt as strong connection with some hip hop as I did with these in particular since perhaps Blu’s Below The Heavens.

“Mastermind” & “Why Can’t We Smile” hit me that directly, so it could be more of a personal note than anything else, but that type of combination of ability, heart, and reflection are always welcome in these parts.

Take a listen to The Graveyard Shift by HAWDWERK, the man’s put enough of it in.
Get at the young talent: TWITTER / OFFICIAL

A lot of Prince hulabaloo happening lately, and I ain’t even mad; the man is a legend. So after his run of one off performances at the Grammys, Fallon, and marathon at SXSW; Prince Rogers Nelson has just announced via his band 3rd Eye Girl a slew of intimate West Coast dates & OkayplayTV drops this gem on us.

Let’s Talk About Prince: Questlove, D’Angelo, Elvis Costello, Alice Smith, Citizen Cope, Wendy & Susannah Melvoin, Bilal, Talib Kweli, Booker T. Jones and Nelson George share their memories and thoughts about the music icon backstage at the Music of Prince Tribute in NYC.

Nardwuar is back at it at this years SXSW festival, linking up with one of the freshest names in the game Joey Bada$$ and his whole Pro Era crew.

Without a doubt this is one of my favorites in a long time with Nardwuar working with hip hop act/groups. From the jump half the crew is into it and the other thinks the homie Nardwuar is a clown. Then about halfway through everyone is won over. Two other things that I love about this is the cohesion and ease this crew works together in the interview and Nardwuar just jumping in and moving around. Usually when one member gets most of the shine like Joey, the rest of the crew falls back and just defers; their dynamic doesn’t appear to be like that. They all get a moment and not with anybody catching feelings about it. Further I haven’t seen Nardwuar own it and jump in like that in a while (may be due to the short time they seemed to have together) he’s a pro.

I could say more, but just watch:

“From The Inbox” is the submissions portion of Social8gency, whether you sent it via email / Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr – we try to listen to everything. Keep Creatin’!

Ronnie Brown dropped this into the inbox, and I will tell you right now there is something to be said for solid and original artwork: so for all the submitters use that as a serious consideration. Back to the point, The cover had me at first and then his quality kept me through his The Irony tape. Its worth your time to take a listen to the MC.

At first to be honest nothing incredibly stands out with this flow, but I laud consistency and songwriting, marks he hits throughout the tape. Perhaps over time he’ll grow and bring something new to his style, but I can’t knock the guy for currently executing and doing it well. Stylistically it reminds me of the slightly gruff straight ahead style of a Freddie Gibbs, nothing ground breaking but leaves room for a few nice gems.

In terms of content there is a lot of young mc topics and of course don’t come in expecting the cleanest production, but you should take the time and give in to its charms. He’s put together a tape with personal stories and perspective on his achievements and desires without falling too deeply into cliches of money and bitches.

Look out for the Queens bred MC in NY and on the web – Facebook & Twitter – Also take a listen and download to his The Irony.

A rundown of a few things that caught my eye today; trying to build that link karma.

New Hit Boy posse cut ft. Raekwon, Schoolboy Q & more. – Pigeons & Planes

Trailer for Cali Beat Scene Documentary – OkayFuture

Fresh New Blu & Exile Video for “Ease Your Mind” – OkayPlayer

Wavves new video is apocalyptic fun “Demon To Lean On” – Pitchfork

Nova Rockafeller “Call Me Batman”

I don’t post everything that I like (that should probably change) anyway though Joey Bada$$ is nice; he will quickly become “that dude”. Leader of the Pro Era linked up with DJ Premier and Coodie & Chike for this track and video respectively.

If you don’t know Bada$$ then you should get familiar.

2 Questions:

1. Don’t Joey Bada$$ look like Pete Rock? There’s got to be something there right?
2. Has DJ Premier aged a day in his life? I guess hip hop keeps ya young.

Something to kick your day off right before you plop down and waste the rest of your week on the new Sim City. Dutch Producer BINK recreates Madlib’s classic beat for “The Healer” from Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part One, setting the tone isa Arts teh Beatdoctor bringing crisp visuals.